


Roots

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Cometverse [28]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Nonbinary Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Pining, accidental misgendering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: Lea is conflicted about Roxas and Xion’s plans to leave and explore the worlds. He and Isa talk on the clock tower.





	Roots

**Author's Note:**

> THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO UP BEFORE THE KIDS CHANGED AND I FEEL BAD I FORGOT IT SO
> 
> in my defence I’ve basically been at various cons for a straight week and a half and I don’t have my timeline with me. There’s probably other ones I’ve forgotten too but that’s future me problems at this point. 
> 
> Anyway I love Isa and I’ve loved writing him dealing with his whole * hand wavey motion * _thing_

Twilight Town sits quiet and serene far below them. Isa tried to appreciate the vista, but his eyes are always drawn back to his companion 

“Roxas and Xion want to go explore the worlds.” Lea remarks and Isa hears how deliberately offhand the comment is. He twists his ice cream stick between his fingers, long empty of it’s prize, as he considers how to respond. 

“You want them to stay.” Is the answer he lands on finally. He sees Lea fight down a frustrated frown and thinks he might be right.

“Well I can’t exactly stop ‘em. They want to see stuff without the whole rigamarole of missions and the organization, and man, how can I say no to that?” Guilt crosses his features briefly, though Isa isn’t exactly sure why. Isa was the one giving out the missions after all. Lea sighs. “They probably get it from Sora. Can’t keep that kid pinned in one place if his life depended on it.”

“At the very least they got the idea from him.” Isa allows. Sora had made the briefest stop to visit his mother in Radiant Garden before taking off again with Riku and Kairi in tow. No one was particularly surprised, least of all his mother to everyone’s relief.

“Yeah.” Lea says. Isa wonders how he manages to inject so many layers of emotion into a single word.

“You could go with them.” He offers the obvious solution, though he has a pretty good idea as to the answer already.

“I thought about it.” Lea admits, kicking his legs absently. “But.. I’m starting a life here. As much as I just got them back… I’d have to leave you, leave Comet, this dumb little town even, if I went with them. I don’t know if I want to do that, y’know?”

“Attached to this place already?” Isa can’t help the soft smile on his lips. Their reunion so recent, it makes his newly-regained heart sing to hear Lea include him so.

“Well some of the people in it are pretty nice.” Lea returns with a smirk. Isa’s heart sings higher. The moment stretches as Isa just absorbs the implied affection, no return barb at the ready.

He tries to reign in the wild emotions of his heart. Reminds himself once more that Lea has a stable relationship, doesn’t need him to make things more awkward than they already are. They’re finally becoming friends again, he cannot ask for more.

“Anyway, Roxas and Xion are gonna be taking Comet’s ship. They don’t really use it and with everyone we know hopping every which way it’s easy enough to catch a ride if we need.”

Isa gives up wrestling with his feelings, and wrests down his jealousy instead, to somewhat more success. He hums an acknowledgment, before a thought strikes him.

“Do either of them know how to drive?” He finds himself more alarmed than he expected. He has many reparations to make to Lea’s wards still, but despite the short time he’s been alive again.. He finds he cares for them, and not just on Lea’s behalf anymore.

“Nope. Me and Comet have been giving them lessons all week. Turns out they’re a born compliment for each other. Roxas is a natural at piloting but he’s got terrible aim, and Xion is practically gifted on the turrets but can’t steer to save her- their-er- ah fuck.” Lea’s endearing story stumbles cumbersomely as he second guesses himself.

“Ah, they told you then?” Isa supplies. He’d rather expected it to be one of the first things Xion had said after all was said and done in the Graveyard. And yet the weeks had passed without any indication anyone knew. Isa had said nothing, knowing it wasn’t his secret to tell, but felt a curiosity nonetheless.

“Told m- wait they told _you_ before they told _me_? You two still get skittish if we leave you in a room alone together!” Lea isn’t offended so much as he is merely very confused and somewhat surprised. Isa supposes that’s fair. After all, even if they weren’t in the midst making amends there was a lot of torrid history between them, and it would take time before they could be truly comfortable with each other.

Xion had given him forgiveness. That didn’t mean they without some awkwardness in his presence. It was only reasonable really.

“I don’t think it was entirely intentional, in honesty.” Isa pacifies. “We were still in the Organization, when their memories and heart were still incomplete. I made a passing remark to Even, and they interrupted to ask that I not call them ‘she’. They said someone had given them the idea but couldn’t recall who at the time.” Lea glances at him but Isa merely continues.

“For a while I thought perhaps it was simply a side effect of their incomplete nature at the time when they did not seem to tell any of you, but they never corrected me when I continued the neutral usage, so I assumed they were simply awaiting the right moment.”

He hadn’t known whether to use neutral or binary terms in reference to a third party, and so had done a fair amount of quick thinking and verbal backflips to avoid the situation entirely. Thankfully his naturally quiet and reserved disposition had been a boon allowing him to avoid it more often than not.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Lea scratches at his cheek. “I don’t know why they waited, but I guess that’s not really for me to know. _Everything_ was weird for a while.”

Isa huffs as he looks out towards the setting sun. On that he can most certainly agree.

“They said they’re good with both ‘she’ and ‘they’, by the way. But they definitely like ‘they’ better, you can see it every time sh- they get this sort of.. Lit up look on their face. Like we’d hung the moon for them. Comet says that’s pretty common when people start switching.” Lea fiddles with his stick and Isa hums an agreement.

“Isa?” Isa turns to look into Lea’s serious expression.

“Yes?” He prompts, when it doesn’t seem like Lea is going to continue.

“I keep wanting to leave Axel, the assassin, that whole part of myself behind but… I can and would kill for both those kids.” Lea says. Isa knows. “That smile they get? When they’re goofing off and having fun, or just.. Not even doing anything, just enjoying being alive? I’d do anything to keep it there. They deserve the world. They deserve to _see_ the worlds. But I can’t follow them everywhere like an overbearing mother hen, either. I don’t know what to do with that.”

Isa chuckles sardonically.

“I think you’re already doing what you need to.” He gestures with his empty ice cream stick. Lea groans dramatically.

“That’s not an answer, Isa.” He sticks his own empty popsicle between his teeth grumpily. Isa shakes his head.

“I’m serious, Lea. No, you can’t trail after them all over the universe like a particularly protective watchdog-” he regrets his wording as he catches Lea’s slight wince, but carries on, “But eventually they _will_ get tired of travelling, of seeing new things, and people, and what will happen then?”

Lea continues to chew on the stick, looking down pensively. Isa huffs.

“They may not realise it right away, they’ve never had a home that wasn’t the Castle, but eventually that wanderlust will fade. And _you_ will be there waiting for them with a home for them to come back to.” Lea glances up at him, something like wonder in his eyes as a smile blooms on his face.

Isa coughs, awkwardly, suddenly aware of his short speech.

“Pretty impressive for a guy who hates public speaking.” Lea socks him lightly on one shoulder, and Isa pretends he doesn’t see him wipe at his eyes with his other hand.

“Yes, well..” Isa coughs again, embarrassed. There’s silence for a moment, but it’s companionable as they look out over the houses and rooftops of the town.

“Thanks, Isa.” Lea says. Isa glances over and is greeted by Lea’s soft, warm smile. His heart clenches.

“My pleasure, Lea.” He answers.


End file.
